Page 23 of Savage Blood (Den of Shadows #6)

Chapter

Fifteen

My hand trembled as I jerked open the door to one of the smaller conference rooms in the east wing of the compound, Saint catching my attention first. His silver gaze burned into me from across the burnished mahogany table that gleamed under the pendant lights.

Warmth leaked into my bloodstream, and some of the tension in my muscles melted away. Recently, he’d had a calming effect on me. Was he doing it on purpose? Was this part of his attempt at healing me?

Would this only strengthen our bond?

“Thanks for joining us, Tate.” Alpha Ari motioned to the left side of the room, near the sage green accent wall. “Please grab some refreshments if you’d like.”

Shifters, no matter the topic at hand, could never hold a meeting without food.

Ari continued his discussion of new security protocols while I ambled around the refreshments table. My appetite was currently nonexistent, but I’d rather have something to fiddle with than wring my hands .

The acting alpha of Silver Ridge stood well over six feet tall, his broad form intimidating and imposing but never unapproachable. Unlike Barric, Ari was actually a kind person. He had the pack’s best interest at heart—and not just the born shifters’.

Forgoing the lemonade because it reminded me of a certain hybrid, I grabbed a glass of water and two chocolate chip cookies. Before walking away, a mini bag of spicy trail mix caught my eye. Of course, I’d have to dump half a bottle of hot sauce into the bag to bring it up to my standards of spice.

Alpha Ari’s mate, Olivia, sat next to him, running her fingers through her sheet of long hair, so black it resembled liquid onyx. A soft smile curved her lips as her hooded hazel eyes explored her mate.

Gareth, Jax’s former assistant, had a place around the long table, as did Jasmin, Camus, Captain Gia, and Saint. I hated the ripple of disappointment that Fane’s absence brought me. I expected him to be here, since the meeting had to do with Ruin.

For all my fury and bluster, I still loved the asshole.

Ari lifted a small remote, dimmed the lights, and then lowered a projection screen from the ceiling. Olivia scooted a laptop toward her and brought up a map of pack territories in Georgia, displaying it on the large screen for everyone to see.

“All alphas are expected to do a head count of their packs and report back when anyone is unaccounted for.” Ari motioned for Olivia to flick to the next screen that listed the highest-ranking members in each pack.

Saint’s mouth curled into a soft smile when I sat beside him. “I was worried you weren’t coming.”

“Lost track of time,” I lied as Valeria slipped through the door and took the seat across from Captain Gia. “Where’s Wrath? Shouldn’t he be here for this?”

He leaned closer to whisper, forcing me to hold back a shiver as his lips barely grazed my ear. “Ari asked him to arrive later, since this first part only includes shifters.”

And yet the raven captain was here.

As if she felt my gaze, Gia’s head swiveled in my direction from a few seats down, her long braids swaying. She was dressed in black as usual, with a silver raven stitched on the left of her chest. An unreadable look crossed her sharp features while worry darkened her eyes.

My stomach soured, expecting her to rant about Hawk and Kourtney being involved in an unsanctioned mission to the Underworld. Gia benched Kourtney for a few weeks because of it. And Hawk, well, he was getting his own punishment in a dungeon.

Would the raven captain finally tell me what a disaster I was?

Ari cleared his throat. “Captain Gia, I believe you have some pertinent information before we discuss the former lord of Savannah.”

“Right.” She opened the cover of her tablet, connected the device to Ari’s software, and displayed that information on the projection screen. “Anna Coltrane is missing.”

The spicy pretzel dropped from my fingers and bounced on the napkin. “Uh, what?”

Captain Gia released a heavy sigh and pulled up a picture of a nondescript brick building. “She escaped from the Chicago ravens’ custody at their rehab center three days ago. There has been no sign of her since.”

“And you’re just now telling me?” My voice rose a few octaves as I pictured the unhinged former raven captain. Last time I saw her, she tried to lock me up and rip the Infernal Sol right out of me.

My heart pounded as a million theories blazed through my mind. Saint rested his hand on my knee under the table, but it did nothing to quell the rising panic.

Coltrane’s escape had nothing to do with Hawk’s Underworld imprisonment. She didn’t give a damn about him.

Was she still hellbent on getting the demon amulet? Could she have somehow found out Barric had it?

Gia’s long fingers moved around her tablet and opened another file. “Coltrane seemed to be making progress and gained the trust of the guards. When they allowed her to partake in a training exercise outside of the compound, she made a run for it.”

“Where do you think she’ll go?” Saint asked, his thumb tracing circles on my knee.

My chest ached because I wanted someone else’s thumb attempting to soothe me.

Why did Fane have to betray me?

“If I had to guess, it would be Savannah.” Gia opened a series of pictures and displayed them on the projection screen. “Coltrane has developed an obsession with you, Tate.”

An icy chill slid down my spine, deepening as Captain Gia flipped through photo after photo of a sketchpad, my name scrawled across every page.

Tate.

Tatum.

Tatum Teague.

Tatum Teague is the key to my future.

The amulet. She has the answers. She knows a way.

“What the fuck is all of this?” Saint’s muscles grew rigid, and I felt his wolf stir, instantly feeling the urge to protect me .

What the ever-loving hell?

I should not be able to feel his wolf or his emotions.

And yet, I freaking did.

“Ravens discovered this notebook beneath Coltrane’s mattress in her room.” Gia opened another file with more pictures of the notebook where strange symbols mingled with my name.

And drawings of the Infernal Sol.

Son of a bitch.

Saint’s gaze met mine as he recognized the ancient demon amulet. He didn’t say a word or even make a gesture, but I knew he had my back with whatever information I decided to reveal—or not reveal.

Gareth motioned toward the screen, its light making his green eyes glow. “That’s a demon language, isn’t it?”

Gia nodded. “I believe so, but it’s not one we have recorded in any of our books at Corvin Manor.”

“How do you know, Gareth?” Camus crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat to study the other wolf shifter. “Seems a little convenient that you, Jax’s former assistant, recognize this as a demon language.”

A snarl curled Gareth’s mouth. “I bet your mate knows all about this.”

Camus shot to his feet, claws bursting from his fingertips. “My mate is not your concern.”

“She’s lost her damn mind,” Gareth said, brushing his chin-length dirty blond hair from his suddenly flushed face. “She doesn’t even know what day it is, much less her own name.”

The trail mix I’d eaten roiled in my gut. If that was true, she was much worse than the last time I saw her—when I tortured her, and she stabbed me with that damn dagger .

If she hadn’t, I wouldn’t be feeling the effects of the leftover piece of the Infernal Sol so much. Not yet anyway.

Would all The Collective Nosterium members lose their minds like Reese?

A warning growl, laced with alpha power, arose from Ari. “Sit down, Camus. And Gareth, if you antagonize him again, you will be kicked out of this meeting.”

“Tate?” Gia pointed at the screen. “Are you able to read this?”

Not without the Infernal Sol.

“No. Sorry.”

My neck tattoo tingled, and Fane’s incorporeal form materialized behind my chair. His presence wrapped around me like a warm, familiar blanket. I wanted to jump up and fall against him, let him hold me until the anxiety crashing within me didn’t make me feel like a miserable piece of crap.

“What are you doing here?” I hissed through our mental link instead, hoping I’d shoved plenty of rage into my tone to mask my sadness.

The rumble in his chest vibrated my chair. “You’re the one who called me, fiera mika.”

I scoffed. “No, I didn’t.”

“Your emotions did.”

Stupid bond.

“The words reference the Infernal Sol.” Fane motioned toward the projection screen as he perched on the table and stroked my arm. Even when he was in this form, his presence inundated my senses and made my muscles turn slowly into mush.

Saint’s fingers still seared on my knee. “Do you think she’ll come after you, Tate?”

For shit’s sake, having the two of them touch me at the same time threatened to make my system go haywire. Images of the three of us rolling around in the forest under a full moon, naked, caused heat to bubble through my bloodstream. I could almost feel them?—

“Um, yeah, I don’t know.” My voice came out in a squeak, and I choked back the lust that tried to overwhelm me before any of the shifters could notice.

Sensing my emotions through the bond, Fane smirked—until he saw Saint’s hand on my leg, his thumb rubbing back and forth. The demon shifter’s teeth bared as he realized both of them had turned me on.

“What about the drawing of that stone in a sun-shaped setting?” Captain Gia asked.

Camus muttered a few curses under his breath as he shoved his empty plate away and leaned toward the screen. “Reese has drawn the same thing.”

“Really?” Olivia tapped her lips as she examined the charcoal sketch.

The air left my lungs, and invisible concrete blocks dropped onto my shoulders, pinning my body to the seat.

They were getting dangerously close to the truth and yet still so far from it.

Guilt ate away at me for keeping the shifters in the dark.

They’d lost dozens of people already, and they could lose more soon.

They didn’t know the entire bitten population could die if I didn’t defeat Barric.